Telephone-call-registering system.



A. E, LUNDELL &"H. G. EDDY. TELEPHONE CALL REGISTERING SYSTEM. APPLICATION FILED JAN. M1915.A

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Patented May 22,1917.

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A. E. LUNDEL'L @L H. G. EDDY. TELEPHONE CALL REGISTERING SYSTEM.

' APPLICATION F ILED IAN. 4, |915. 1,226,981.

Patented May 22, 1917.

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UNITED STATEs PATENT oEEicE. y

ALBEN E. LUNDELE,V 0E NEW YORK, N. Y.,.ANn HERBERT e, EDDY, oEEAYoNNE, NEW

JERSEY, AssIGNoEs, YEY MEsNE ASSIGNMENTS, To WESTERN ELEctiEIcy COMPANY,

INCORPORATED, .A` CORPORATION GENEW YORK. f. n

TELEPHONE-CALL-REGISTERING SYSTM.

Application led anuary 4, 1915. Serial No'. 357'.`

To all fw hom t may concern:

Be it known that we, ALBEN E. LUNI/)ELL Y and HERBERT G. EDDY", citizens of the United States, residing at New York,`in the county of Bronx and State of New York, and at Bayonne, in the county of Hudson and State Y of-New Jersey, respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Telephoi'ie- Call- Registering Systems, of

whichk the following is a full, clear, concise,

and exact description.

This invention relates to call registering in a telephone exchange system.

its `objects are to render ineffective attempts to make more than one registration of a single call, to prevent registering more than oneV call at a time, and to avoid registering an unsuccessful call. It is especially applicable to a system in which each operators position is equipped with asequence switch for each cord or other connecting circuit, controlling in a plurality of resting positions the connection o f the operators telephone with calling'lines. e

ln known systc-ms,'thii=;` sequence switch is automatically advanced from a normal position toa listening-in position when connection is made with a calling line and thereafter is advanced to a listening-out position, the latter: movement being brought about by the operation of answering a subsequenty call,

e and by the action ofother controllingappan ratus in various ways, and 'the 'operatorsf position is provided with a call registering key associated with each connecting'circuitfV by which a. message registerassociated with the callingliiie, oria coin Vcollector at'th calling station', may beactuated. v` i tis desirable in', such systems: first, to

render ineiective attempts onfthe part of l the operator, throughjcaieles'sness, to loperateV the calliregistering means more: than once for any call; second, to obviate ther postiony of calls'to whichthe want-ed party has not-responded.L

accordance with this invention, the

first of these objects may be attained in a simple a'ndeiiective manner? underthe vcontrol of the operatorsV sequence switch by providing this switch with a second listening-out position beyond the one which the switch ordinarily takes, and in which it may restypending ythe final disconnection of the lines. Thus, the act :of registering acall,

which 'may take place either when the sequence'switch'is in the listening-in or the first listening-out position, causes thesequence switch to advance to theV second listening-out position wherein the jcallV regist-ering` means is rendered ineffective.

The secondk object inayl be vattained by a preferred' organization which 'provides al special 4call registering position, 'into which when'the call registeringkey is depressed the sequence switch advances from its listening-in or its iirstjlistening-out position, and wherein it prevents any of the operators other sequence switches from advancing to a like position.V Then, when the call registering key is released, the sequence switch advances from its call registering-position to its second listening-out position, wherein further depressions of the call registering key are ineffective. f i n The third object may be attained'by pro- Vviding means associated with the call registering key and yactuatedl upon the wanted subscribers response to a. call which renders the call registeringVv key then ,and only in that event eiective. f l

' Preferablythe call registering means coin prises, in addition toa keyA individual to Y Y each connecting circuit,"a relay common to the operators position vcontrollable by-` any VVkey' of that; position and adapted'to per- 'n formftwo functions: first, to'close the call registering-circuit byway of any connecting Y circuit lassociated at theinoment. with it and `with thedepressed key; and second., toropen a common Vsequence switch control circuit by which allV the `listening-in rvsequence switchesV Vare Vordinarily enabled toV pass into the 'reg- `istering position on to the secondv listeningout position,y When, therefore, Ythis common relay yis appropriated by any individual call registering key, it becomes operative for the momentfwithrespect to one Vconnecting circuitson'ly and one calling linemessage register'only', all other sequence switches which J may .at the'time be moving forward out: of

their first listening-in positions being arrested before reaching the call registering position and caused to wait in an intermediate position until the completion of the registration that is taking place.

The invention will be more fully understood by reference to the accompanying drawing wherein- Figures 1 and 2 are circuit diagrams together illustrating a call registering system as applied to a semi-automatic telephone eX- change, Fig. 1 including that portion of a connecting circuit under the control of one sequence switch, and Fig. 2 another part of the same connecting circuit apparatus controlled by another sequence switch, and certain apparatus common to a number of connecting circuits; and Fig. 3 is a circuit diaof a calling subscribers line equipped with a message register. Fig. l also indicates in skeleton outline the contacts of a series of automatic switches, a sender therefor and a line to be called. As the inven tion does not relate to or depend upon any particular form of switch, or upon the sender therefor if automatic switches are used, or upon the controlling circuits therefor, these details are not shown or described.

1t is the function of certain switching apparatus shown in the drawings, including a plug 1 and spring-jack 2 and sets of contacts of automatic or other types of switches 3, 4 and 5, to provide a telephonic circuit between a calling station G and a called station 7 The calling line has associated with it the usual line relay 8, line signal 9, cutoff relay 10 and a message register 11, the latter having two windings 12 and 13 normally in series and in shunt of the cutoff relay and having a contact 14 adapted to shunt out the winding 13 when the magnet is energized. The connecting circuit shown in Fig. 1 is divided into inductive sections by windings 15, 16 and 17, 18 of a repeating coil, current being fed to the calling and called lines through these windings by a suitable battery. Associated with the switch 3 which may be called for convenience the district switch and with the other apparatus in Fig. 1 is a sequence switch 21, and associated with the apparatus of Fig. 2 is a sequence switch 22. Sequence switch 21 has a number of resting positions as follows: l-normal, 2-awaiting sender, 3-brusli selection, 4-awaiting sender, -group selection, G-awaiting sender, 7 trunk hunting, ll-selection beyond the district switch, 14-ringing, 16-talling, 18-switch return. Sequence switch 22 also has a number of resting positions as follows: l-normal, 7W listening-in, lliirst listening-out, 12- awaiting release of meter key of another cord, 14-call registering, 17-second listening-out. Each of these sequence switches may have a cyclic travel over eighteen full positions. Master contacts, 42 for sequence switch 21, and 43 for the sequence switch 22, are provided for the purpose of advancing the switches from one to another' of the resting positions. )Vith the exception of the normal, listening-in and the operating (12, 14) positions of sequence switch 22 all resting positions (11 and 17) are termed as subnormal or listening-out positions. In these positions of rest of sequence switch 22 the connection is maintained established, and therefore no circuit changes occur.

There are provided for registering calls, a call registering key 23 which is individual to each connecting cord circuit, and a call registering relay 24 which is individual to the operators position and therefore common to all of the connecting circuits thereof. Associated with this relay 24 may be provided a position meter 25 controlling in a local circuit a lamp signal 26, which indicates the successful registration of the calls. In circuit with position meter is a special source of current 27 which is brought into circuit upon the operation of the relay 24 for the purpose of supplying sufficient current to energize the line message register, such as the register 11'of a calling line.

Associated with each operators position is an operators telephone set 28 by means of which the wants of calling subscribers may be ascertained. There is also provided for the connecting circuit a oord relay 29 which responds when connection is estal lished with the calling line, a supervisory lamp signal 31 for the calling line, a ringing lamp signal 32 which remains lighted when a connection is established to the called line and before the called subscriber responds, and a supervisory lamp signal 33 controlled by the called subscriber after his response. These signal devices are under the control of supervisory relays 34 and 35.

The sender indicated within a dotted rectangle in the lower part of Fig. 1, is of substantially the saine type as the one disclosed in a Patent No. 1,168,319 to A. E. Lundell. The details of the sender and the cord finder switch, by means of which the sender may be associated with a trunk line, are not disclosed in the present application. The circuits for controlling the operation of sequence switch 21 have been simplied for thel sake of clearness. rlhe conductors leading Vfrom the sender to sequence switch contacts 108 and 109, are included in a fundamental circuit that may be traced in part in the mentioned patent to Lundell from the lower contacts of sequence switch spring 243 (Fig. 1), conductor 244, the third wiper of the cord finder switch X (Fig. 2), conductor 324, sequence switch contact 325, the wind-4 ing of a stepping relay 402 (Fig. 3), the `right-hand armature and back contact of a counting relay 403, the upper contact of a 1,226,9s'i Y sequence switch spring 404, conductor 328, the 'tourth wiper ofthefcord finder switch X (F ig. 2), conductor 235and the lower contacts of sequence switchspring 234 (Fig. 1). Upon the closure of a contact '38 at the sender, the listening key sequence switch 22 may be driven yout of its listening-'in position 7,',as will be hereinafter Iset forth. A ycorresponding circuit, .by means of which the listening key sequence switch 100 of the mentioned patent to Lundell may be driven out of its ,listening-'in' position 5, vmay be traced inV the followingrv manner: from grounded battery, `through the power magnet of sequencey switch 100, the upper contactof sequence switch spring 111 (Fig. V1),'

conductor 112, the {left-hand back contact and armature of relay 343 2), the uppercontact ofa sequence switch spring 435 and the upper contact of a se-L quencegswitch spring 335 (Fig. 2), to ground. Thus yit will be seen that the contact 38 corresponds to the upperfcontact of sequence switch spring 335 of the mentioned patent. Underthe control of a Contact 37 at the sender, a relay 36`Ymay-be` operated .to advance the sequence switch 21 from position to position'. Thejrelay36 corresponds to relay 212 (Fig. 1) ofthe Lundellpatent, and the contact 37 'to the lower contact of sequence switch springV 404 (Fig. 3). Upon the setting of selector 3, thesequence switch 21 is moved out ,of position 11 into.l position 14 bya ,circuit closed in a .contact 39 at the sender. This contact 39 corresponds to vthe upper contactr of sequence switch spring `429 (Fig. 3) of the Lundellfpatent. When the district switch 3 indsfan idle trunk, a contact41 is closed for causing the sequence switch 21"to move out of its trunk-hunting position 7. A similar circuit may be traced in the mentioned lpatent in .the following manner: 'from ground, through the righthand armature and back 4contact of relay 210 (Fig. 1), the left-hand armature and .back Contact of relay 2 12,V the Ylowericontact of sequence switch' spring 226,v `and the power magnet of vsequence switch 20() 4to grounded battery 202, 'the contact 41 corresponding to the right-'hand vback contact of relay 210.` f( A The operation the Vsystem more in de-A tail is as follows: Assuming .that the subscriber at station 6 desi-res a connection with the line of station J7. `The Lline signal 9 responds upon the energization of the line relay 8 in the usual way'and the operator an-y swers the call by inserting the plug 1 of a connecting cord kcircuit in the springj ack 2.

This brings the cord relay 29 into a `circuit with the cutoff relay 10 and message register 11 as follows: ground, 29, 44, 45, .46, thence inparallel branches 10 and12, to battery. The ,cord relay 29 andthe cutoiirelay 10 are actuatedybutthe message registerv11 is not because of the high resistance 'of its winding 13 vand the insuiiiciency foi-'message registration Vof the source of current in the circuit. The cord relay closes at its' Contact 47 a circuit-ground, 47 ,548, 22, battery which sends the sequence switch 22 out or' normalposi Vtion 1 into its listening-in` position 7. y In its advance to thelatter position, there is closed a contact 49 connecting ground to a common wire 5l leading Yto yall contacts, such 'as they contact 52, ofthe various sequence switches,

Vsuch as 22, of the other connecting circuit Thus any' of the same operators position. other listening sequence switch happening at the moment to be restingin Aposition 7 will be caused to move out of that position; As

tok

the sequence switch 22 moves into position 2,

there Vis also closed at contact 53 acircuitp ground, 54, 53, 21, battery,'which sends the district sequence switch 21 out 'ofits normal vposition-1 into position r2 where it awaits control by the sender. TWhen the listening sequence switch 22 reaches position 7, the operators telephone set 23 is connected at contacts Y55 and 56 in a bridge of the circuit tov the'calling line. The operator now ascer tainsthe wants of the calling subscriber and 4Vto'5, 5 to 6, and 6 to 7. .Thus, when the front contact 57 of relay 36 is closed, there is provided a circuit-ground, 57, 58,21, battery which isy closed when .the sequence switch is in position 2, 4 or 6, and likewise when the back Contact 59 of that relay vis closed there is provided a circuit-ground, 59, 61, 21, battery for vthe sequence switch in positions 3'and 5. In position 7, which may `be assumed to be a tru'nlrhunting position of the district switch '3, there is closed a circuit-ground, 41; 62, 21, battery which sends the sequence switch into `position 11 wherein .it may control the operation of the other au- Y During the progress of the loo ltomatic switches 4 and'5, contacts 103" and lthe district sequence switch out of position 11 into the ringing position 14, and contact 33 closesa circuit-ground, 38, 51, 52, 22, battery which sends the listening sequence switch vouter its listening-in yposition 7 to its ifrst listening-out position 11. Y

When the called .party at station y7 re'-y .sponds to the call, given in the usual way by ringing current applied to his line, there Vis closed a battery circuit to the called line which includes the supervisory relay 35, as follows: battery, 18, 35, 104, 3, 4, 5, 7, 5, 4, 3, 105, 17, ground. This relay thereupon closes a circuit-ground, 64, 65, 66, 21, battei-y which sends the district sequence switch out of ringing position 14 into talking position 16. It is noted that in the ringing )osition 14 there had been closed a circuit-l l ground, 67, 68, 32, 69, battery which had lighted the ringing lamp 32. Then, as the district sequence switch moved into position 16, this circuit was opened at contact 68 and a circuit-ground, 67, r1, 33, 69 battery was closed. The latter circuit includes the supervisory lamp 33, but the lamp is for a moment shunted by a resistance 72 in series with sequence switch contact 106 and con tact 64 of the supervisory relay 35. lVhile the calling subscribers line is closed and the district sequence switch is in positions 14 to 16, there is closed a circuit-battery, 73, 31, 74, ground which includes the calling supervisory lamp 31. At this time, however, the lamp 31 is shunted by a resistance 75 in series with sequence switch contact 107 and Contact 76 of the calling supervisory relay 34.

As the district sequence switch moves into talking position 16, there is closed at contact 77 a path for a control circuit which, as will now be explained, enables the operator to register the call on the calling subscribers register 11. The registration is effected by the depression of the call registering key 23. This act closes a circuit at contact 78 which sends the listening sequence switch out of position 7, and through 11 if it had been resting in position 7, or out of position 11 if it had been in that posi tion, as follows: ground, 47, 7 3, 79, 22, battery. If the sequence switch has been resting in position 7, this circuit causes it to advance first to position 11 in which the circuit is again closed, and then from 11 to 12 where it continues to be closed. Thus, the sequence switch is caused without stopping to advance to thecall registering position 14. In the latter position, there is closed a circuit for energizing the message register relay 24, as follows: ground, 47, 78, 81, 77, 24, battery. It should be noted that when the listening sequence switch had moved into position 14, it had switched the. circuit of the cord relay 29 to the cutolf relay 10 from the single sequence switch contact 44, to a pair of such contacts 82 and 83 so as to includea back contact 84 of the message register relay 24. Therefore, when this relay is energized, it opens the cord relay circuit and closes another for the cutoff relay and message register portion thereof by way of the position meter 25, as follows: 27, 25, 85, 82, 45, 46, thence in parallel branches through the cutoff relay 10, and message register 11, to battery. The resistance of the winding of the position meter 25 may be less than that of the cord relay 29, so that the current in4 the new circuit is stronger than that in the original circuit through the cord relay 29; also the battery 27 assists the battery at the other end of the circuit and the current now existing in the windings 12 and 13 of the message reg ister 11 is thus sufficient for its operation. In position 14, the message register relay remains energized in a circuit-battery, 24, 77 81, 78, 80, ground. The register magnet closes at contact 14 a shunt about the winding 13, causing the position meter 25 which is marginal to receive sufficient current to operate and to close the local circuit for the signal lamp 26.

Upon the release of the key 23, the listening sequence switch 22 advances to its second listening-out position, by reason of the reaction of relay 24 and the closing at contact 86 of a circuit-ground 87, 86, 92, 22, battery. Subsequent depressions of the key 23 can have no effect while the sequence switch is in that position because the circuit of relay 24 is open at contact 81. Therefore the line message register 11, if perchance it does not remain energized in its circuit now restored, through the cord relay 29, cannot be again caused to register and also the position meter cannot again be caused to count that call.

Furthermore, when the call registering key 23 had been depressed, it had opened the contact S6. The purpose of this is to prevent the listening sequence switch 22 from advancing at the moment beyond position 14, provided contact 77 of the district sequence switch 21 had not closed. Thus, in case the calledy subscriber had not answered the call at the time the operator depressed the call registering key 23, the listening sequence switch 22 would have advanced in the manner already stated to position 14 and would have remained there as long as the key is held down, notwithstanding the failure of the message register relay 24 in this event to open its contact 87. And if, in the meantime, that is to say while the key 23 is held depressed, the called subscriber should respond so that the district sequence switch 21 moves into its talking position 16, causing contact 77 to close, the registration of the call would still take place, for the message register relay 24 would still be energized.

It is to be noted also that the message register relay 24 controls at its back contact 87 a path which, in a manner now to be stated, prevents more than one listening sequence switch from entering at the same time the call registering position 14. In order to eX- plain this, let it be assumed that the message register relay 24 is at the moment energized by reason of the depression of a call registering key, such as the key 23, of

some other connecting `circuit, than the one shown in the diagram. In` such event contact 87 is held open. kAnd let it be assumed that the listening sequence switchv 22 of the connecting circuit shown in thediagram is moving out of position 11 by reason, we will say, of aswitch restoring operation.

Switch restoration may have occurred f by reason of thefoperator having'withd'rawn the plug 1 from the spring-j ack 2, in whichevent the circuit .for the cord relay 29 wouldliave been broken and its back contact 8,8 closed,- completing acircuit for 'the listening vsequence switch 22 as follows: ground,88, .89, 91, 22, battery. This would have sent the listening sequence switch yout of position 11, causing it to move intok position 12"wherein it would have remained temporarily `under the assumed. condition, because no` circuit .is closed for moving it out` of that position, there being an open connection at contact v87 of the message register relay24. By reason of these conditions of the circuits, therefore, only one listening sequence switch of an operators position can enter the call registering position at a time, and only one call can be registered upon each depression of the key 23. .t

Assume a case now in which the message register relay 24 is notenergized during a switch restoring operation. There-isthencompleted a circuit by way of contact 87 for sending the listening sequence switch 22 out of position 12 and also out of position 14, as

follows: ground, 87, 86, 92,422, battery. The sequence switch 22 in such event moves on to position 17 wherein the circuit previously traced, by way of back contact 88 of cord relay 29 and listening sequence switch contacts 89 and 91, is again closed, so that this sequence switch moves on from positionk 17 to its normal position 1. In the latter position, the listening sequence switch closes at contact 93 a circuit forcausing the vrestoration to normal of the district switch 3, and its ysequence switch 21,*this circuit being as follows; ground, 88, 89, 93,A 94, 95 battery. This circuit includes a knock-down relay 95 which closes a circuitground,96, 97, 98, 21 battery, which sends the district sequence switch 21 out of talking position 16 into the switch restoring position 18, wherein is closed a circuit-ground, 96, 97, 99, 101,`battery, including a switch restoring magnet 101. The district switch closes, at a normal contact 102, a circuit-ground, 102, 103, 21', battery, which sends the district sequence switch 21 out of position 18 to normal. rI he restoration of the district switch may in any desired'manner bring about likewise the restoration of the other switches t and 5, used in completing the connection to the wanted line.

The invention herein described is applicable not only to message or call registering in the sense that the calls are indicated on a message counter, but also to the operation of devices for collecting toll Vfor telephone service 'by coin collectors, etc. Therefore, the `termY call register or call, registering mechanism is used herein broadly in the sense 'of message counting or toll collecting.

What -is claimed is: y

. 1. In a telephone exchange,v system, the

combination with aV calling line, adjustable 1 meansV for listening-in and listening-out, a

call register, controlling apparatus for said register Voperable when said meansis adjusted to listen in, andmechanismyresponding to the actl of registering a call for adjusting ysaid means to listen out.`

2. In aV telephone exchange system, the combination with a calling line, adjustable means for listening-in and listening-out, a

`register operable vwhen said means is adjusted to' listen in, and apparatus respondingto the act of registering a call V4for adjusting said'means kto listen out for rendering said controlling apparatus ineffective VVa secondl time for that call., Y l

3. In a telephone exchange system, the

operator is at the moment listening in andV for render-ing said register-controlling mechanism ineective a second time for `that call.

Vcall register, controlling apparatusfor saidf kcombination with a V,calling line, `an operaa. In a telephone exchange system, calling line answering means, an .operators sequence switch having a plurality of resting positions, means for advancing said switch .to a

klistening-in position when the operator an- Y swers va call, call registering mechanism operable when said switch is in said listening-in position, and means responding to the act of Vregistering a call for advancing said switch to La position wherein the said registering mechanism is ineffective. n

5. In a telephone exchange system, the

combination with 'ca-lling lines, an operators telephone and'call registering mechanism, of a sequence switch adapted to control the connection and disccnnectionof ysaid telephone with said lines, said sequence switch having a listening-in, a irst listening-out, call registering, and a second listening-out position, means for advancing said sequence switchv out of saicl-listeningin position and -said listening-out position and for operating said call registering mechanism .when it reaches said call yregistering position, and means for advancing said sequence switch to said second listening-out position and for rendering said call registering mechanism ineffective therein.

6. In av telephone exchange system, an

operators sequence switch having a listening-in and two listening-out positions, a call registering mechanism, an operators key for controlling the actuation of said mechanism, means for rendering said key effective when the sequence switch is in its listening-in position or its first listening-out position and ineffective when it is in its second listeningout position.

7. In a telephone exchange system, the combination with calling lines, a plurality of connecting means therefor, operators listening sequence switches one for each connecting means, means for advancing any one of said sequence switches to a listening-in position when the operator answers a call with the associated connecting means, means for advancing the said sequence switch thereafter to a listening-out position, a call register controlling mechanism, means for rendering said call register controlling mechanism effective as to the line connected to any one of said connecting means when the associated sequence switch has advanced to its listening-in position, and means common to a plurality of the connecting means for preventing the registration of more than one call at a time.

8. In a telephone exchange system, the combination with calling lines, called lines and connecting means therefor, of operators listening-in means, call registering mechanism, means operated upon the response of a called line for rendering said call registering mechanism effective, and means responding to the act of registering a call for listening out if the operator is at the moment listening in and for rendering said register- Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents ing means in-effective for another registration of that call.

9. In a telephone exchange system, the combination with calling lines and a plurality of connecting means therefor, of apparatus for registering calls including a plurality of keys one for each connecting means and a switching relay common to a plurality of said connecting means, and means controlled by said relay for preventing the registration of more than one call at a time.

10. In a telephone exchange system, the combination with lines and an operators connecting means therefor, of a controlling sequence switch and a call registering key associated with said connecting means, a registering circuit jointly controlled by said sequence switch and said key, and means operative upon the response of a subscriber of a called line for adjusting said sequence switch to a position in which a call may be registered by said key.

11. In a telephone exchange system, the combination with a calling line, adjustable means for listening in and listening out, a call register, controlling apparatus for said register, and mechanism responding to the f act of registering a call for adjusting said apparatus to listen out.

In witness whereof, we hereunto subscribe our names this 2nd day of January A. D., 1915.

ALBEN E. LUN DELL. HERBERT G. EDDY.

Witnesses:

E. EDLER, K. L. STAHL.

Washington, D. G. 

